After the Ball
by AllisonZorEl
Summary: Kara and Mon-El wake up in the desert, with no idea what is going on. They find shelter with a young woman who may know more than she lets on. Meanwhile, Alex, J'onn, Maggie and the superfriends must find out what happened to Kara and Mon-El, who seemingly vanished on their way to Alex and Maggie's wedding, before it's too late. Some mild language. Some Karamel and Sanvers.
1. Chapter 1

_What a beautiful sight_ , Mon-El thought groggily, looking at Kara. He'd just woken up, and the first thing he'd seen was his beautiful, sleeping fiancée. She wore a deep blue ball gown, fitted to her waist, then billowing out. It was an absolute princess dress, the kind of dress Kara would love. Her blond hair fell in loose waves down her shoulders, and she wore ruby jewelry. The red rubies in her necklace contrasted perfectly with the sand.

Wait.

 _Sand._

Quickly, Mon-El sat up, getting a massive headache in the process. He looked down and saw the suit he was wearing, and remembered what had happened. Kara had been driving J'onn's car on their way to Alex and Maggie's wedding. They'd been laughing. Then, suddenly there'd been a loud noise, and everything had gone dark. He rushed to examine Kara.

As soon as he touched her, her face glowed green. _Kryptonite_ , he thought. Of course, what else could have knocked the two of them out? He was still feeling the effects of the lead they must have used in addition to the Kryptonite. Where were they? It looked like they were in some sort of… desert? He was sure of only one thing. He had to get himself and Kara out of here. Whoever had attacked them had brought them there. That couldn't be good. He scooped Kara up, swearing at how cold she felt, and started running. Before long, he came upon a cottage. He didn't stop to think how odd that was- a single, isolated cottage in the middle of nowhere. He was desperate. He pounded on the door.

"Help!" he yelled.

In an instant, the door was thrown open. Standing there was a young blonde woman, no more than eighteen or nineteen, with her hair in Dutch braids. She stared for a moment, taking in the frantic man in a suit carrying an unconscious woman in a ball gown. Then, getting a grip, she moved over to let Mon-El inside.

"Lay her on the couch", she said, with a heavy Dutch accent, "I am Lotte. When did this happen?"

"Just now. We were, um, hiking, and she fainted", Mon-EL said, thinking as fast as he could. "I'm Mike, and this is… Linda."

Lotte looked him right in the eye, sizing him up. "Hiking."

"Um, it's, um, an American relaxation technique. Go hiking in your finest clothes."

He could tell from the way Lotte looked at him that she thought he was an idiot, but she didn't question it further. "You are American."

He nodded. "Yes."

"You don't know about the Avian flu, do you?"

"What?" Mon-El said. He hadn't heard of any sort of epidemic in The Netherlands, if that was indeed where they were.

"I don't know where you are from that you haven't heard about it, but it has broken out in the last two days, all over the globe. Already, it has killed over two million people. Once you begin to show symptoms, you can die in less than a day."

Suddenly, Mon-El felt sick. "What day is it?"

"The fourteenth of December."

No. No, that couldn't be right. He and Kara had been attacked on the twelfth of December. What had they missed? Mon-El jumped to his feet. "We can't stay here", he said, "We... um... we need to be back in America by tomorrow."

Lotte shook her head, moving to block the door. "Look, I do not know what kind of rock the two of you have been living under, but there is a mandatory quarantine. She is infected, she cannot leave my house. And you, you carried her, which counts as extended physical contact. You are mandated to stay inside my home for at least three weeks. Neither of you may leave."

Now, Mon-El was certain that neither he nor Kara had the Avian flu, but of course he couldn't say that. There was only one thing to do. He reached his hand out to Lotte. "Well, Lotte, it looks like we're going to be getting to know each other very well."

Lotte smiled grimly. "It appears we will."

Just then, Kara began to stir. "Hello? Where am I? Where are you? Mon-"

Mon-El cut her off. "Right here, _Linda_. Right here. It's me, _Mike_."

Kara looked from Mon-El to the girl standing behind him. "Well, _Mike_. All I can say is you'd better have a damn good explanation. Start talking."

 _ **Heyyyyy! Welcome back to those who know me, and hello to those who don't. The idea for this fic just kind of hit me out of nowhere, so here I am, writing it. Not going to lie, I'm unsure if I'll finish it, but I certainly hope to. I'll give you a warning a few chapters before if I plan to end it with some stupid, fast ending. Until further notice, however, I'll be updating on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Also, for those of you who haven't seen it, please check out my other fic, A Blue-Eyed Little Girl, that I update on Mondays and Wednesdays. Finally, Question of The Day: Who's your favorite young Kara, Malina Weissman or Izabela Vidovic? Personally, I'd say Izabela Vidovic looks the part better, but I really don't know if I could choose. I like both of them! As always, thanks for reading. See you Wednesday!**_


	2. Chapter 2

"I have reason to believe you have the Avian flu", Lotte said, not one to mince words, "I am going to get a thermometer. Stay here."

"She seems friendly", Kara said, "Now start talking."

"You remember the wedding, right?"

Kara's eyes widened with remembrance. "We were... kidnapped?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know. Look, Kara", Mon-El said, hearing Lotte moving in the other room, "We've been unconscious for a few days. It's December 14th, and apparently we missed a huge outbreak of Avian Flu. I arrived here carrying you, because you passed out from the Kryptonite, so Lotte- she's the girl- thinks that's what you have. I think we're in the Dutch countryside, by the way. Anyway, we need to give you a fever. Any ideas on how to do that?"

"Yeah", Kara said grimly. Giving Mon-El a mischievous look, she heat visioned her hand, then held it to her forehead. Within seconds, she had a burning fever. After it had cooled for a few seconds, Lotte came back into the room.

"Open your mouth", she said. Kara did as she was told, throwing a panicked look at Mon-El. She'd heated her forehead! Lotte stuck the thermometer into her mouth as Kara prayed for a miracle.

"My God", Lotte said, "You have a one hundred and seven degree fever!"

Kara breathed a silent sigh of relief. She must have heated her forehead hot enough to effect the thermometer. Lotte put her hand on Kara's forehead, and immediately screamed, pulling it away.

"You're burning up!" She yelled, shaking her hand, "I think you burned my hand!"

Mon-El shrugged apologetically, trying to direct attention away from Kara.

"This is even worse than the news said. I'm sorry, Linda, but you have Avian Flu. And that means, of course, that neither of you-" she threw a pointed glance at Mon-El- "are leaving this house until she's either better or dead. I'm going to go make soup."

As soon as she left the room, Kara and Mon-El looked at each other, worry in their eyes.

* * *

"Three days", Alex said, walking out of her lab, "It's officially been three days, and there's no sign of either of them."

Maggie put her hand on her fiancée's back, knowing how guilty she must feel about the fact that she'd just fallen asleep in her lab. Three days ago, Kara and Mon-El had failed to show up to their wedding. Further investigation had revealed J'onn's empty car, crashed into a tree, teeming with both Kryptonite and lead radiation signatures. Since then, no one had seen either Kara or Mon-El. They'd been abducted, but who had taken them or where they were was a mystery.

"Our computer still only picks up one Kryptonian heat signature across the entire planet", Winn said, shaking his head, "And no Daxamite heat signatures at all. It's like they've just vanished off the face of the Earth."

"Perhaps they have", J'onn said, "If it wasn't Cadmus, then it's likely aliens did this. We just need to figure out _why_. Who would have motive to kidnap National City's hero and her boyfriend? And who knows Kara's identity? We need answers. We're not going to find anything without them."

Winn nodded, and kept looking at his computer. Alex, unsure of what to do, walked back to her lab, looking for the bottle of scotch that she always kept there for times like this.

 **Heyyy! I know, I know, short chapter, but it's my little sister's birthday week, and I've been crazy busy with a surprise party. Next chapter will be longer, I promise. What did you think? Honestly, I'm still unsure whether or not to continue this- please let me know if you think I should! Now, announcement time. First, if you haven't, please check out my other fic, A Blue-Eyed Little Girl. It's an au where Kara and Kal were in the same pod, and the pod crashed on Earth a decade after Kara's did in the show. I think it's pretty interesting! I update that one on Fridays and Mondays (though it updates tomorrow just for this week, as Friday is my sister's bday). I've also started a Reigncorp fic, called Prove It, in which Sam and Lena try to prove Kara is Supergirl and fall in love in the process, that updates on Sundays and Thursdays.** **It would mean the world if you'd check them out! Finally, question of the day: Have you ever been to the Netherlands? I lived there over the summer when I was younger, and as a result I'm fairly fluent in Dutch- but don't ask me how to spell any of the words! I might have a limited amount of Dutch speaking in this fic- I think it's such a pretty language, despite what others have told me. Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Morning, Sunshine", Mon-El said, bringing Kara a cup of coffee. The caffeine didn't actually do anything for either her or him, of course, but Kara had always loved the taste.

"Where's Lotte?" Kara said, sipping her coffee.

"Work. She said she works as a barista in the mornings and a barmaid at night. Apparently living with two infected germ pools and taking the temperature of someone with the flu doesn't make it illegal to go outside, but carrying someone with the flu does. Earth is weird."

Kara nodded her agreement. "So, what do we do?"

"Well, at the end of the day, it's not like she can truly force us to stay here. But something tells me you aren't going to like the idea of forcing her to let us leave. And if we leave while she isn't here, she's likely to report us to the police, which would lead to way too many questions for my taste."

"Agreed. Do you have my phone? I want to text Alex", Kara said, "She's probably worried half to death."

"No", Mon-El said, "I don't have your phone. Or mine. Whoever attacked us must have taken them."

"Which, of course, brings us to the elephant in the room", said Kara, "What the hell happened?"

Mon-El shook his head. "I don't know."

"Well, there's the problem, Mon-El. We were attacked", said Kara, "We don't know who attacked us, but they took our phones and apparently kept us knocked out with kryptonite and lead for around two days before dropping us off in the middle of the Dutch countryside. Oh, and apparently there's been some sort of huge epidemic that's killed millions of people while we were out. And you aren't confused? You aren't worried? We're just going to stay here with this petite blonde woman who, for some reason, has an abundance of soup and coffee?"

"Look, Kara, I didn't say this wasn't all weird as hell. All I said is that I don't see many options. If we try to leave while she's here, we'll have to hurt her, if we try to leave while she's not here, we'll raise too many questions. Besides, with the flu outbreak, I'm sure your sister just thinks you ran off to help people", Mon-El said, lying through his teeth. He knew Alex must be frantic. From the look on Kara's face, he knew she knew it, too. Still, Mon-El was right.

"Fine. We'll stay here for a little while. But if we get the chance to leave, we're taking it."

Mon-El nodded. Just as he was about to say something else, however, they heard the door swing open. Instantly, Kara fell back down onto the pillow, pulling the blankets around herself. If Mon-El hadn't known she was definitely not sick, he would've thought she was. She'd changed into an old nightgown of Lotte's, and thanks to some freeze breath earlier her skin was pale and clammy. She pulled the covers around herself, shivering. Lotte came to the bedroom door.

"Hello, Mike. Because we have had so few customers, I closed the coffee shop early. How is Linda?"

"Oh, about the same. I've been sitting with her. I hope you don't mind that I made her some coffee?"

"No, I do not mind. I hope she gets better. Though, I must ask, how did you read the instructions? Do you speak Dutch?"

"Um, _ik spreek geen Nederlands_ ", said Mon-El, trying his best to remember what little Dutch Kara had taught him. Kara's pod had taught her nearly two dozen Earth languages on her journey. His had taught him only English, having been programmed by an amateur programmer.

Lotte smiled. "What about Linda?"

Mon-El wasn't sure why this unnerved him. After all, it was a perfectly normal question. But something about the way she said it seemed… off. Almost like an interrogation. "No", he said, still unsure what compelled him to lie, "No, she doesn't speak Dutch. Stupid Americans, you know?"

Lotte smiled. "Stupid Americans indeed, going jogging in your fairytale clothes. I am going to make a phone call, and then I would like to take a nap before work tonight. Feel free to help yourself to anything within my kitchen." With that, she turned and left the room. Kara sat up.

"Why'd you tell her I don't speak Dutch?" Kara asked, "You know I do."

"I don't know", said Mon-El, "There was just something about the way she asked it… it unnerved me, that's all."

Kara was about to answer when Lotte's voice filled the room. It appeared she was making her phone call. Mon-El was ready to start talking again, but Kara sat ramrod straight, putting her hand on Mon-El's arm.

"Mon-El!" she whispered, panicked, "That's not Dutch she's speaking!"

Mon-El didn't see what Kara was so worried about. "Um, okay? Most of the rest of the world teach their children multiple languages…"

Kara shook her head. "No, no, you don't understand", she said, pinning him with a stare, "That isn't Dutch, it's Kaluan. Mon-El, _she's speaking Kaluan_."

Mon-El's mouth dropped open.

* * *

"This is useless!" Alex yelled, hitting her keyboard in frustration.

"Hey, hey", Winn said, "I know you're worried about Kara, but breaking state-of-the-art equipment is not going to get her back sooner."

Alex leaned forward, resting her head on her hand. "I know, I know."

Rolling his chair closer to her, Winn put his hand on her back. "Hey, you know we're going to find her, right? We're going to find them both. Soon."

"How do you know that? How can you be so sure, Winn? It's been four days now, and nothing. No heat signatures. No power usage. No radiation signatures. No sightings. It's like they just vanished!" Alex laid her head on her desk, slumping her shoulders. Winn continued to rub her back, wishing there was more he could do to help her sister and his best friend. Without looking up, Alex continued to speak. "You know, I was supposed to have today off. And the last three days, too, and the next three days. Maggie and I were supposed to be doing volunteer work in Belize, and then vacationing in London. We were so excited. We were excited for the wedding, too. We had everything all planned, we even agreed to let Kara wear that god-awful Cinderella dress with those horrible ruby earrings. And then my maid of honor just up and vanishes on the way. Because of course she does, right? Of course the universe couldn't just let me and Maggie have our one day, right, let alone a whole honeymoon! Silly us, for wanting to be happy!" Alex stood up and started to walk away, not wanting Winn to see her cry. Winn, being Winn, stood up, pulling her into a hug.

"Hey, hey, it's going to be okay, Alex" Winn started to say, but Alex cut him off.

"Prove it. Prove that everything will be okay, and then I'll believe it." Pulling away, Alex started to walk away, planning to go to her lab.

The door was blocked, though, by some blonde woman. The woman wasn't facing her, so she couldn't see her face, but she fully intended to punch her out of the way if she needed to. It became pretty clear that that wasn't necessary, however, when the woman turned around, revealing herself to be Eliza.

"Mom!" Alex yelled, running to hug her mother. She knew her mom had been in town for the wedding, knew she probably knew what had happened to Kara, but she still hadn't given her a single thought, or answered any of the more than a hundred missed calls from her mother. All of her thoughts had been reserved for Kara, and Kara alone.

"Alex", Eliza said, hugging her daughter as tight as she could.

"Why is everyone hugging me?" Alex asked, though she didn't pull away.

"Because that's what people do when someone they love is in agony", Eliza said back. "Now, let's go. Maggie told me over the phone that you haven't left the DEO in four days, Alex. Come on. You're going to get in my car. We're going to pick up some tea. Then we're going to drive to your apartment, and you're going to get into your bed and go to sleep. Come on. Let's go."

If it was anyone else, Alex would've refused, but this was her mother. She'd been ignoring her mother enough over the last few days. "Three hours. Three hours only", she said.

"Four", countered Eliza. Alex narrowed her eyes, but relented. Defeated, she followed her mother out.

Seeing Alex finally going home, J'onn walked over to Winn's chair. "Called Eliza, did you?"

Winn nodded. "She's the only one Alex will listen to."

"Good work, Agent Schott", J'onn said, "Now find them."

"Yes, Sir."

 **Heyyyy! How'd you guys like it? Thanks for coming back! For those that follow my personal life, I'm happy to announce that my little sister loved her surprise party. For those that don't, I'm happy to announce that I've decided to continue this story until the end! If you haven't checked out my other fics, A Blue-Eyed Little Girl (coming-to-Earth AU) and Prove It (Reigncorp), I definitely recommend doing so. Also, I've been considering writing a story in French- what do you guys think? Do any of you speak French? I'm hesitant because although my diction in French is very good, my grammar could use some work. I'll let you know what I decide. Question of the Day time! Do you prefer DC or Marvel? I know, I know, this is a DC fandom, so I'll probably get mostly DC people, but might as well check. Personally, I honestly just think DC's comics are better! Marvel slays the movie game, though- Black Panther was incredible. Thanks for reading and reviewing, and see you guys Wednesday!**


	4. Chapter 4

"What's she saying?" Mon-El asked, trying to stay calm.

"I don't know", Kara said, furrowing her brow, "She's moving further away. I can't hear her."

"Don't you have super hearing?"

"Oh! Right!" Kara said, face palming. But when she tried to listen, she found herself unable to hear- unable to use her super hearing at all.

"I can't hear her! Mon-El, my super hearing is gone!"

"Damn it!" said Mon-El, "It must have been the Kryptonite! The prolonged exposure probably weakened you!"

"Well, what do we do?" Kara asked, fighting to stay quiet.

Mon-El sighed. "Nothing we can do, I guess, besides keep watching her. Maybe we can casually bring up the Alien Amnasty Act and see her thoughts on it. Have the Dutch implemented their own version of that act?"

"Yeah", Kara said, struggling to come up with some sort of explanation, "Maybe she has a friend who speaks Coluan?"

Even as she said, it, Kara knew that was a stupid explanation, and Mon-El knew it too. But he didn't have anything more reasonable, so he stayed silent. The two looked at each other, falling into an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

"Would either of you like lunch?" Lotte asked, walking into the bedroom. Apparently, she'd finished her phone call.

"Um, yeah", Mon-El said, not sure what to say. He couldn't confront her about the Coluan- asking her why she spoke Coluan would lead to her asking them the same question, which would lead to way too many complications. He decided to just pretend they hadn't heard it, for now. "Thanks."

"No problem. I will make _pannenkoeken_ , do you know what that is?"

"No, but it sounds delicious", said Kara, sitting up.

"Ah, Linda, you are awake! How are you feeling?" Lotte asked.

"Oh, um, a little bit better. Who knows, maybe it wasn't the Avian flu after all."

"Perhaps it was not, as you are not yet dead", said Lotte, with a look on her face that suggested she was thinking, "Perhaps it was just a cold."

"Are the Dutch always this blunt?" Mon-El whispered to Kara, making her laugh a little. To Lotte, he said, "So, how was the epidemic been? Has it gotten any better?"

"No", Lotte said, shaking her head sadly, "Not at all. Millions more have died, and it is estimated that over half a billion have become infected. It is possible this is the worst epidemic since the times of the Black Death."

"Could we watch a newscast?" Kara asked, "Perhaps an American one? We'd like to know what's happening back home."

Lotte seemed to stiffen. "No", she said, "No, you may not. Have you not heard? Watching television while you have the Avian flu will give you the most horrible headaches. As there is a chance Mike is infected, as well, neither of you may watch." With that, she turned sharply and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"We can't watch TV because we're infected and it will give us headaches?" Mon-El asked, "That's a new one."

"There's something weird about her, Mon-El", said Kara, "Something unnervingly strange. I don't know what it is, but something tells me that we're going to have to find out soon if we ever want to get back home."

* * *

Even though she hadn't wanted to go home, Alex had to admit that it was relaxing to be in her own bed. She'd taken a few sleeping pills in order to calm her nerves, and the effect had been almost instantaneous, knocking her out in a matter of minutes. Now she groggily opened her eyes, her hands searching for her phone. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but the fading light suggested a long time. Finding her phone, she turned it on, swearing when she checked the time- she'd been asleep for almost nine hours!

She's switched her phone to airplane mode while she slept. Scrambling out of bed, she switched it back, pulling on her jacket and boots. She cursed when her phone vibrated and she saw that Winn had sent her fifteen new messages, all telling her to either call him or come to the DEO as soon as possible.

"Call Winn", she said to her phone running to her car. As she pulled out of her apartment complex's parking lot, she heard the phone ringing.

"Alex!" Winn said, picking up the phone, "So sorry to interrupt your relaxation, but you need to come here right now!"

"I know, I know, I saw your texts. I took some sleeping pills, and they were a lot stronger than I thought they would be. What happened? Did you find anything?"

"It's hard to explain", Winn said, "Especially over the phone. Please, just hurry up."

Alex didn't live far from the DEO, but with each passing minute that she wasn't there, she wished she lived closer. After a torturous five minutes, she finally arrived, pulling her car around the back and punching in the code in order to get into the building's secret parking lot, reserved for DEO agents. She ran into the control room.

"Agent Danvers!" said J'onn, who was standing behind Winn's desk, along with Maggie, Eliza, James and Lena- apparently, a security exception had been made, given the circumstances.

"What? What did I miss? What happened?" Alex said, running towards the computer.

"Winn thinks he may know where they are. Or, at least, where they… aren't", Eliza said.

"Through some super science nerd stuff that I'm not going to get into, I managed to track vehicles going in and out of the area where they were abducted. Though security footage doesn't show it, there was a large, motorized vehicle that was in the area that night, and that vehicle carried large amounts of lead and kryptonite."

"So we know where they are?" Alex asked, her excitement rising. But Winn only shook his head.

"That's the problem, Alex. It's like Eliza said. We don't know where they are, but we do know… where they aren't."

"Fine then, where aren't they?"

Winn took a deep breath. "Earth."

* * *

"What is your report?"

Lotte stood before the man, her hands behind her back. After serving the _pannenkoeken_ , she had told Kara and Mon-El she needed eggs, and rode her bike a fair distance from the house. But she hadn't needed eggs, and she hadn't gone to the market.

"I have been administering the drug to the Kryptonian in her food supply, and she appears weaker. She has also been slightly effected by the large amount of Kryptonite in the atmosphere, but due to our shields, it isn't very prominent. What of the Daxamite? You have not given me instructions regarding him", Lotte said in perfect Coluan, without even a hint of a Dutch accent.

"The Daxamite is irrelevant", said the man, "Kill him whenever you feel the time is right. But not too soon, so as not to make the Kryptonian suspicious. How are your relations with the two? Do they trust you?"

"I believe so", said Lotte, "Though it is hard to tell for sure. I have confirmed that neither of them speak Dutch, so it appears your plan to set this little ruse in The Netherlands was a good call. They appear to have bought the Avian flu story, and the Kryptonian continues to pretend she has the flu. It's almost adorable, watching them think themselves great masters of trickery."

The man nodded. "You are doing well, my child. You should return, now. Soon it will be time to move on to stage two of the plan. Oh, and don't forget to grab the eggs on your way out."

Lotte nodded, and turned to leave.

 **Hi, everyone. As you can tell, I'm back from the dead. I'd like to say right off the bat that I didn't abandon you guys. Simply put, I've been sick. Very sick, physically and mentally. I'm sorry I left you guys hanging for so long and I'm sorry that, at the moment, I can't commit to a regular editing schedule- I'm not out of the woods yet. Anyway, I've already updated A Blue Eyed Little Girl, and I'll be updating Prove It tonight- two chapters on each story! I'll try to update as soon as possible. Thank you for sticking with me all this time and, as always, love you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

Alex blinked. "They're not on Earth."

"No", said Winn, "They aren't. And we don't know where they've been taken. We know this unidentified vehicle left Earth's atmosphere and didn't return, but we haven't been able to track it since then. It's like it just disappeared."

"Great. So all we know is that someone with access to a spaceship grabbed them, launched them into space, and hasn't brought them back?"

"Pretty much. I'm sorry, Alex. We're working to fix this, I promise", said Winn, giving her a sympathetic look. Alex turned her head, seeing the pity and hopelessness on all her friends' faces, and turned, walking out of the DEO.

"Hey, Alex! Alex!" Maggie called, running after her. Alex tried to keep walking, but Maggie wasn't going to just let her run off like that. She put her hand on Alex's shoulder, forcing her to turn around. "Hey, Alex", she said, looking her fiancée straight in the eye, "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? Well, let's see, Maggie. My sister is missing, my wedding's been ruined, and we should be in London right now. But, instead, we're here, trying to conduct some sort of intergalactic manhunt, chasing some sort of disappearing spaceship that has my sister. That's what's wrong, Maggie, okay?" Alex was near tears, Maggie could tell. There were only two things that made her like this- their relationship, and Kara.

"Hey, Danvers? Look at me. No, _look at me_." Maggie's eyes found Alex's. "Your sister? She's a fighter. Little Danvers has been through a lot, and little Danvers is a fighter. You know that, right? You know your sister isn't going to let anyone take her away from you."

"They were using kryptonite, Maggie! How did they even get kryptonite?"

"We don't know, Alex", said Maggie, moving forward to wrap Alex in a hug, "But we will. Soon. Some of the most brilliant minds on the planet are here, in this building, working on this case. We're going to find her, Alex."

Alex wanted to argue, but she didn't have the strength. She leaned into Maggie. "I'm sorry this is how this week had to go", she mumbled.

"I am too", said Maggie, "But that's okay, because we're going to have another shot at a wedding- and the maid of honor is going to be there next time, and all her blue ball gown glory."

For the first time in days, Alex smiled.

* * *

"Damn, this is good", Mon-El said, devouring the food Lotte had given them, "What was this called?"

"Pannenkoekan", said Kara, "And I don't know… it's making me feel… kind of sick."

Mon-El looked over at her, confused. "How could it be making you sick? Haven't you not been sick since, like, you left Krypton?"

"Yeah", Kara said, furrowing her brow. She put her plate down, holding her head. Mon-El picked it up, looking for anything unusual, but it smelled perfectly normal, and looked it, too.

"Linda? Mike?" Lotte asked, moving through the room. Mon-El turned to Kara.

"Quick, do the freeze breath thing!"

But Kara only sat there, staring ahead, her eyes widening. She snapped out of it when Lotte threw open the door, falling back onto the bed as quickly as possible.

"How was the food?" Lotte asked, moving through the room, holding a thermometer. Her eyes fell upon Kara's mostly full plate. "Oh, Linda, you have not touched your food!"

"Oh, um, she was feeling a bit sick after eating it", Mon-El said truthfully, though he masked his confusion, "She decided to sleep."

"No, she must eat her food! She will never recover if she does not!"

"Hey, about that", Mon-El said, "When will she recover? You said it should have killed her by now, but she seems really stable. How long until we start to see recovery?"

"Well, if she will indeed recover, it will be a slow, gradual process. I will not lie, though, I must be blunt- I do not think she will recover fully. She may recover, but she will be weakened for the rest of her life."

At this, Mon-El looked stricken, and it wasn't even entirely acting- what is they had to stay here for months, years? What if Lotte decided to keep in touch with them, to check Kara's progress? And, most frightening of all, what is Kara truly was sick?

Seeing Mon-El's face, Lotte softened for the first time Mon-El could think of. "I am sorry, Mike. I wish there was more I could do. If I could, I would fix this. Here, I've made you some tea- I recommend drinking it. It will help you sleep. You must be exhausted, watching over her." She gestured to a teacup on the table. Mon-El thanked her, and was about to drink it, when he suddenly felt... odd. As if... something wasn't quite right.

"Thanks", he said, "But I've always preferred my tea a bit on the cooler side. I'll drink it in a few minutes."

Lotte nodded. "I will sit with you until then. So, tell me about your relationship with Kara. Is she you friend? Girlfriend? Wife?"

Mon-El smiled, though for some reason that sentence unnerved him more than anything Lotte had said before. "Fiancée, actually. We planned on marrying sometime next summer, as her sister just married her girlfriend and we'd hate to get in the way of that. Of course, with this flu outbreak, who knows when or if we'll even get married?"

"You will", Lotte promised, putting her hand on his shoulder, "I am sure of it." With one last reassuring squeeze, Lotte left the room, reminding him to drink his tea. He sat there for a second, slightly unnerved. He turned to Kara and was surprised to see that she truly had fallen asleep. It was only hour later, as he lay next to Kara, listening to her steady breathing, that a few things stuck out to him.

Avian flu was a viral infection. Sure, it may have some after effects, but it was unlikely to leave the survivor with a true lessened quality of life afterwards.

Lotte had touched him. So far, she'd been reluctant to touch Kara or him, believing them to be possibly infected with the flu. Yet she'd done it so casually, with no hint of caution.

She'd been awfully eager for him to dinrk that tea, though perhaps she was just a nurturing person.

But, the biggest red flag of all- he'd told Lotte his fiancée's name was Linda.

So why had she asked about his relationship with _Kara_?

 **Hi guys! Second chapter of the night. Will try to have a new chapter or at least a bonus chapter up ASAP- maybe even sometime late tonight, if I'm up for it and my medication doesn't make me too sleepy! Love you guys, thanks for reading!**


	6. Bonus Chapter!

"You _what?_ " the man screamed, taking a threatening step towards the petite woman.

"I... I am sorry, I wasn't thinking..."

"Damn right you weren't thinking", he said, cutting her off, "Calling her _Kara_? Not sitting with him until he drank that fucking tea? You fucked up, Lotte, you fucked up real bad."

"I'm sorry!" she screamed, frantic now, but nothing could save her. Before she could blink, two men were beside her, tying her up.

"You know I hate doing this, Lotte", said the man, "But it's only my duty. You do whatever I say, Lotte, that's the arrangement, and I don't appreciate you always trying to change it."

Lotte closed her eyes, but it didn't matter. It didn't stop her from feeling the sharp, hard blows to her skin.

 **Bonus chapter! Though I suppose it does advance the plot. So perhaps Lotte isn't so bad after all, just being coerced... or ,maybe she is? Not to worry, you'll find out soon! Good night, everyone!**


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